Deviation recording device



Sept. 19, 1939. A J.-R. HoARD DEVlATION RECORDING DEVICE Filed July 2e, 1937 2 sheets-Sheet i Ethil. I

Sept. 19, 1939.

J. R. HOARD DEVIATION RECORDING DEVICE Filed July 26, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented sepa 19, 1939 PATENT OFFICE 2,173,745 nEvA'rIoN RECORDING DEVICE p James E. Hoard, Houston, Tex., assignor to Oil Well Survey Instrument Company, Houston, Tex., a corporation o! Texas Application my 2s, 1937, serial No. 155,678 I This invention relates to a deviation recording apparatus. I

The invention embodies certain improvements over that type of apparatus disclosed inthe copending application of this applicant illed August 14, 1936, under Serial No. 95,993.

An object of the invention is to provide apparatus of the character described shaped to be lowered into a well bore and containing means which are maintained inoperative while the apparatus is being lowered but which become active when the apparatus reaches the selected place in the bore, and is maintained stationary at said location, whereby a record is made of the inclination of the bore at the selected point.

As is Well known the bore of a Well, rarely, if ever, follows a true vertical course, but usually is sinuous on account of varying inclinations of the strata pierced, as well as -from other causes.

It is desirable to know the course followedbi the bore so that the bore can be straightened, if

desired, at the point of deviation. The invention herein disclosed has been particularly designed for the purpose of ascertaining the inclination ofI 25 the well bore at a selected point therein.

The invention also embodies a novel timing arrangement.

Itis another object of the invention to provide a novel record making means. 30 With the above and other objects in view the invention has particular relation to certain novel features of construction, operation and arrangement of parts, an example of which is given in this speciflcation and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a fragmentary, vertical, sectional view, showing the upper end of the apparatus. l

Figure 2 shows a fragmentary, vertical, sectional view, showing an intermediate portion thereof.n

Figure 3 shows a fragmentary, vertical, sectional view showing the lower end portion of the apparatus.. v

Figure 4 shows a side elevation of the apparatus, partly in section, as mounted in the housing, said housing being shown in section.

Figures 5 and 6 show, respectively, fragmentary, vertical sectional views of an intermediate 5o and lower end portion of the apparatus.

Figure 7 is a cross sectional viewtaken on the line 1`1 of Figure 5, and Figure 8 is across sectional view taken on the line 8--8 of Figure 2.

55 y Referring now more emiculany to the draw- (C1. azi-205.5)

ings wherein like numerals of reference designate the same parts in each of the figures, the numeral I designates an elongated tubular housing shapedA to be lowered into a Well. The upper end of this housing is closed by the Acap 2 to which the lower end of the cable 3 is connected. The cable is used for lowering the apparatus into and withdrawing it from the well.

Attached lto the lower end of the housing there is a guide point I having a deep socket t therein in which is located the coil spring 6.

Enclosed within the housing there is a cylindrical casing which is formed of upper, intermediate, and lower sections fi, 8 and 9, the sections 1 and 8 being connected by an inside coupling Iii. The upper end of the casing is closed by a cap ii having a stuiling box I2 thereon and the lower end I3 of the casing is closed as shown in Figure and is seated on the upper end of the 'coil spring 6, which forms a shock absorber.

The coupling I0 is inwardly thickened and has. an axial bearing I4 therethrough through which the connecting rod I5 is slidably viitted and this rod is closely surrounded by the stuffing box I8 carried by said coupling. A fluid tight chamber I1 is thus formed between the cap II and the coupling I0 and this chamber is filled with a suitable liquid. y

Fitted within the section 1 there is a plunger I8 which is attached to the upper end of .the rod I5 and which is surrounded by suitable packing I9. 'I'he plunger has the vertical duct 20 therethrough and slidably mounted 'between the guides 2|, 2| on the upper end of said plunger there is a valve 22, having a port 23 therethrough. This port is normally held in alignment with the duct by means of pull springs, 24 suitably connected at one end to the valve and at the other end to the plunger. The inner end of the valve carries a roller 25 for a'purpose to be hereinafter explained.

There is a cylinder 26 whose lower end `is attached to the upper end of the plunger I8- and attached' to the upper end of this plunger there is a guide plug 21 having an axial bearing 28 therethrough. This guide plug 21 forms also the lower end oi' a cage, said cage comprising also 'the upper end disc 29 and the guide rods 30 which connect the upper end disc 29 with the guide plug Within the cage, and guided by said rods, there is an impact member 3i which is also held against turning by the rods. as illustrated in Figure '1. Therevis a rod 32 which worksthrough, and extends above, the stuiilng box I2 and whose lower end is attached to the upper disc 29 of said cage. The upper end of this rod carries the grip member 33 and a coil spring surrounds the -rod and is interposed between the upper end cap II and the upper disc 29 of said cage.

The impact member 3| has an axial bore 35 containing a coil spring 36 whose lower end is attached to said impact member and whose up-A per end is extended upwardly and attached to the upper end of the cage, said upper end of the spring 36 being. surrounded by a coil spring 31 which depends from the top of the cage and whose lower end is free and normally spaced above the ,/impact member as shown in Figure 1 and-which acts as a shock absorber to limit the upward movement of the impact member.

A valve actuating rod 38 is mounted with its upper end working through the bearing 28 and with its lower end working in the axial bore 39 of the plunger i8. This lower end of the rod 38 has an elongated side notch 40 whose upper end is upwardly and outwardly beveled forming a cam face 4 i. When the apparatus is inoperative the roller 25 rests in said notch.`

On the'rod 38 and located within the cylinder 26 there is a plunger 42 having a duct 43 therethrough from its lower to its upper end, the upper end of said duct being normally closed by the upwardly opening valve 44, which is normally held closed by the pressure spring 45. The plunger i2 and the rod 38 whereon it is mounted are normally held elevated by the coil spring 65a which is enclosed within the cylinder 26 and is supported by the plunger I8 and supports the plunger 42.

In the intermediate section 8 of the casing there is a cross-head Q6 which is attached to the lower end of the rod I5 and depending from said crosshead there is a tubular skirt 41.

The recording mechanism proper will now be described; there is a tubular anchor 48 slidably tted into the upper end 'of` the lower section 9 of the'casing and provided with a longitudinal s101746. A key 50 is anchored to the section 8 and extending inwardly into the slot. This anchor is supported on 'a coil spring 5I which is fitted within the section 9 and which is supported 'on the inwardly extended pins 62 which are anchored to said casing.

The upper end of the anchor 48 is enlarged and tted closely within the intermediateI section 8 of the casing providing a downwardly facing external stop 53 which limits the downward movement of the anchor. Said anchor is normally held in its upper position bythe coil spring 5I.

There is a disc-like record receiving element 54 whose margin is suitably attached to the upper end of the anchor 48.. This record receiving element is preferably, though not necessarily; transparent and .is formed of any suitable material adapted for the purpose. Preferably it is slightly flexible andv of suicient softness to, receive a mark or impression and will not be liable to be broken or mutilated.

Spaced beneath the pins 52 are the inwardly extended pins which support a ring 58., Supported on this ring there is a coil springi which supports a plate 58 and normally holds it. against the pins 62. The plate 56 has a central opening 66 and surrounding said opening on theplate are the antifriction bearings 68a on which the ball 66 is mounted. This ball is retained in place by the retainer plate 6I which is secured onlthe plate 68. The retainer plate 6i has a central -cpening and a post 62, vis attached to, and upstands'from, the han to through said opening and its upper end is pointed and spaced beneath record receiving element 54.

An externally threaded stem 63 depends from I the ball 60 through the opening 53 anda pendulum is attached to and depends from said stem. This pendulum includes the head 64 and,the weight 65. This weight` encloses a coil spring 66 whose upper end is connected to the head and whose lower end is connected to the weight. This pendulum maintains the pointed post 62 in verti- .cal position. The head and weight have a ball and lsocket joint connection 61 whereby the shock of the lateral swing of the pendulum will be absorbed to prevent breakage or bending of parts, particularly when the pointed end of the post 62 is engaged with the record receiving element 64, as shown in Figure 6. Depending from the crosshead i6 there is an upper pendulum 68 which is located within the skirt 41. The lower end of this pendulum is provided with a pointed marker 69. The upper end of the pendulum 68 is formed with a spherical head 'I0 forming a ball joint member which is normally supported in the socket Il formed in the upper face of the bearing plate 12 vwhich is secured to the lower end of the cross-head 36. The lower end of this cross-head has a deep vertical socket 'I3 in which there is located a bearing block 'I4 and a coil spring l5 is enclosed within the socket I3 and presses downwardly against the ball joint member i6 and maintains it iirmly seated in the socket member 1I. The pressure of the bearing block 14 against the ball joint member 'i0 is suilicient to prevent vibration -or an undue oscillation of the pendulum 68 but permits said pendulum to assume `a. true vertical position;

In use the apparatus is set by vibrating, or jarring, the same to cause the impact member 3| to drive the rod 38 downwardly to cause thel 'cam face 4I to move against the roller 26 to close -impact member 3|- and this continued jarring,

or vibration,-of the device, as it is being lowered, will continue successive impacts of the member 3| against the upper end of said rod 3 6 so as to maintain the rod 38 in its lowermost position against the pressure of the spring 46a: .ln the opposite direction and to maintain the valve 2r closed.

the constant pressure 'of the spring .46a upwarde ly against the plunger 42 will graduallyelevate said plunger, the liquid in the cylinder 26 above gradually leakingbetween the plunger 42 and the walls of the cylinder 28 until the notch -46 registers with the roller.25 permitting the valve 22 to open and' thereupon the plunger I6 will move downwardly under the influence of the spring 34 thus movingl the pendulum 68 downwardly until the pointed marker 69 engages, and forms 4amark on, the record receiving element 64, as shown in Figure 6. The spring 15 will thereafter yield to When the apparatus has reached the desired location in the well and becomes stationary, the

timing apparatus will begin to operate, that is,

record receiving element. a

` clination of the bore.

The downwardv movement of the plunger I8 continues until the lower endof the skirt l1 comes into contact with and moves the record receiving element 54 downwardly into engagement with the pointed upper end of the post 62,'

placing the spring 5| under compression and said post will make a mark on the under side o! said receiving element and thereafter the spring 5!v will yield to prevent undue mutilation of the record receiving element by said post.

The springs 15, 5i and l1 will yield sufiiciently to prevent the record receiving element 54 from being unduly mutilated but at same time have suicient resistance to cause said markers to make visible marks on the record receiving element.

When the apparatus is lowered to thedesired place in the well where a record of the inclination is to be made', a sumcient time should be-allowed to lapse to givethe timing device time to operate to make the record-and the apparatus may then be withdrawn for an inspection of the record receiving element.

If the markers $2, 69, make marks exactly at the center of the element 5! it will be known that the well bore was exactly vertical at the` point where the record was made.

As shown in Figure 6 the apparatus is shown inclined to the vertical and in -such case the marks on the record receiving element will each be off center and on opposite sides of the center of the record receiving element. The distance the marks so made are-from the center of the receiving element indicates the amount of in- In other words the data furnished by the marks made by the markers 62, 69 furnish sufficient data to enable the amount of the inclination of the bore at a point where the record is made to be readily ascertained, and if the inclination of the bore at that point makes it necessary the bore can be straightened in any i approved manner.

receiving elements, however, may be provided As shown the markers operate on a common record receiving element 54. Separate recordfor the respective markers and the same result and information thus obtained.

The drawings and description disclose what is now considered to be a preferable form of the invention by way of illustration only, while the broad principle of the invention will be denned by the appended claims.

What I claimis:

1. A deviation recording device shaped yto be lowered into a well and comprising, means eil'ective, upon operation thereof, to make a record of the inclination of the well bore, said record making means comprising a record receiving element and a pair of gravity actuated markers one above and one below said element adapted to penetrate into, and to make separate records on, said element, and a timing device operative at a predetermined interval after the initial movement of the apparatus into the well and effective to actuate the record marking means.

2. A deviation recording device shaped to `be lowered into a well comprising a casing, a yieldably mounted record receiving disc longitudinally movable in the casing, means for limiting the range of movement of the disc, a pendulum support in the casing above the disc, a pendulum depending from said support and whose lower end terminates in a marker, a tubular skirt depending from said support around the pendulum whose lower end is adapted to engage the disc upon downward movement of the support, a yieldably mounted supportin the casing beneath said disc, an upstanding post pivoted to said last mentioned support and whose upper end terminates in a marker and a timing device operative at a predetermined interval after the initial movement of the apparatus into the well and -will make separate records onsaid disci.

3`. A deviation recording device shaped to be lowered into a well comprising a casing, a yieldably mounted record receiving disc longitudinally movable in the casing, means for limiting the4 -range of movement' of the disc, a pendulum support in the casing above the disc, a pendulum depending from said support and whose lower end terminates in a marker, a tubular skirt depending from said support around the pendulum whose lower end is adapted to engage the disc upon downward movement'roi the support, a yieldably mounted support in the casing beneath saiddisc, an upstanding post pivoted to said last mentioned support and whose upper end terminates in a marker and a timing device operative at a predetermined interval after lthe initial movement of the apparatus into the well and effective to move the pendulum support downwardly to cause the pendulum, marker and the skirt to engage said disc and to eiect the downward movement of the disc into engagement with the marker on said post, whereby said markers will make separate records on said disc and a swinging weight depending from the lower end of said post. n

4. 'A deviation recording device shaped to be lowered into a well and comprising means eiiec-` tive, upon operation'thereof, to make a record of the inclination of the well bore, said record making means comprising a yieldably mounted, record receiving element and a pair of gravity actuated markers one above and one below said element adapted to penetrate lnto, and to make separate records on, said element, said markers 4being mounted to yield upon coming into contact with the element and a timing device operative at a predetermined interval after the initial movement of the apparatus into the well and eiective to actuate the record making means.

5. A deviation recording device shaped to be lowered into a well and comprising means eiec- 

